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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26326267">closure across timelines</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kestiscroft/pseuds/kestiscroft'>kestiscroft</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anti Steggy, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Fix-It, Fuck Endgame Steve, Me and my homies hate Endgame Steve, Multi, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Pro Sharon Carter, Sharon yells at old man Steve, anti endgame</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:36:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,471</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26326267</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kestiscroft/pseuds/kestiscroft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The biggest shock for Sharon Carter was waking up in the new world to find that Steve Rogers was truly gone.  He'd abandoned everything and everyone to live the life he thought he deserved with Peggy.  Now, Sharon had to face him if she ever wanted to regain her life back and move on.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes &amp; Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sharon Carter, Peggy Carter &amp; Sharon Carter, Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa, Sharon Carter &amp; Steve Rogers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>74</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>closure across timelines</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My first Sharon fic in a long time, enjoy :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Everything about the world was different.  That much was clear.  Half of the world had disappeared for five years, Sharon Carter included.  Even though it had been five months since she’d come back, her disappearance felt like it had been yesterday.  She could still remember every moment of it.  To watch as her body disintegrated into dust.  She wasn’t the only one that felt that way though.</p>
<p>Almost every single person that had dusted away dealt with some type of shit.  At the time when she got dusted, Sharon had been under orders from Fury.  Sharon had been scoping out old safe houses and searching for a base of operations.  Not for SHIELD though.  He’d been working on something else, a new organization.  Her relationship with the CIA was pretty much over. Even if they did take her back, she wouldn’t accept.</p>
<p>Fury was gone too.  He’d gone up into space with Danvers to start the organization that she’d help start five years ago.  Fury had offered her a job up there too, but once again she’d refused.  Living in space with ‘skrulls’ just didn’t sound like her cup of tea.</p>
<p>It had taken Sharon so long to process that and everything else.  She still wasn’t back to her normal self.  She had been staying in one of her family’s old homes in New York.  It had laid dormant for about five years.  She’d visited Fury at the new Avengers facility a few times before he’d left for space.  She’d also talked to some of the other remaining members that stuck around.</p>
<p>From what they told her, the final fight had been brutal.  Sharon hadn’t been there…  But then again neither had Fury or Hill.  There wasn’t much she could have done anyways.  But still, she wished she had been there.  She would have made her Aunt Peggy proud…</p>
<p>The other big shocks for her had been the deaths of Stark and Romanoff.  She hadn’t known Stark extremely well, but she had known Natasha…  They had trained together some during Sharon’s early days at SHIELD.  It was hard being here knowing that Nat had given her life for everyone else.</p>
<p>But the biggest shock of all was re-appearing back on Earth to find that Steve Rogers was truly gone.</p>
<p>She still couldn’t believe it.  Sharon and Steve hadn’t been ‘together’ and she never saw a future with him… but still.  It stung like hell to know what he did.  Sam and Bucky were the ones to have broken the news to her.  They tried to tell her as kindly as possible, but it hadn’t helped.  Bruce had explained the science of it to her.  An alternate timeline… God, what a mess he caused.</p>
<p>The only lesson that had come out of this for her was that Sharon learned she was replaceable. </p>
<p>“Hey, you okay?”  Sam asked.  The car came to a stop and he put it in park.</p>
<p>Sharon shook her head and pushed those thoughts from her mind.  She glanced over to Sam in the driver’s seat of the car.  Bucky sat in the backseat.  They had kindly offered to accompany her to this occasion.  She had been dreading it for so long.</p>
<p>“Yeah I’m fine…”  She lied.  She gave him a small smile to cover up her pain.</p>
<p>She heard Bucky sigh.  “You don’t have to do this, you know.”</p>
<p>There Bucky went again.  He had been the one out of their duo to advise against this.  He had always acted in caution to this subject over the past few months.  Which was surprising, considering he was the most reckless usually out of the three of them.  But even though he’d never said, Sharon knew that Bucky was cautious because he was hurting too.  Captain America had once given up everything for the Winter Soldier, and then needlessly tossed him aside.</p>
<p>She shook her head.  “Yes I do.  It’s for me… not for him.”</p>
<p>It wasn’t something that she wanted to do, but <em>needed</em> to do.  If she didn’t she would never find closure.  Some people didn’t move on, but she sure as shit was going to try to.</p>
<p>“We’ll be waiting out here, as long as you need.  Just… try not to kill him.”  Sam said.</p>
<p>Sharon scoffed.  “I think I can do that.  Thanks you guys.”</p>
<p>She gave each of them one last glance before stepping out of the car.  She was thankful for the two of them.  They were her only rock during this difficult time.  She took a deep breath and tried to calm down.  Sam was right, she didn’t need to kill him.</p>
<p>It had taken them a few hours to get here.  The house was a little bit outside of D.C.  It was a beautiful old structure that sat on top of a hill.  The view was incredible too.  This was Peggy’s old home…  She had to swallow the bile that was forming in her throat.</p>
<p>Even though her visit was expected, Sharon knocked on the door.  She waited a few moments before hearing a voice.  She couldn’t make out what it said but she took it as an invitation to step inside.  A wave of cold air hit her in the face.  Seems like someone over the past five years had installed air conditioning.  Aunt Peggy had always been one to ‘tough it out’.  She had always preferred when Peggy came to their house instead.  She had both loved and hated it here.</p>
<p>Despite the temperature, everything else in the house was the same.  It still had the same dreaded décor from the early 50s.  There were many memories made in this house.  It made her long for her Aunt and the simpler times.  Back then, there were no aliens or time travel.  Sharon’s only problem in the world had been to be the best version of herself.  Now, nothing was certain.</p>
<p>The living room was empty.  “Hello?”  Sharon asked.</p>
<p>She wandered through the halls and the kitchen before coming to a stop at the balcony.  She could see a figure sitting outside.  Oh no.  Here it goes.  This is the conversation that she’d been dreading for five months.  There was no putting it off any longer though.  It had to be done.</p>
<p>Sharon took one last deep breath and stepped out onto the balcony.  She stomped forward with her fists clenched, ready to let all her anger out.  But the sight in front of her made Sharon immediately stop.  Her anger boiled down to a simmer.  The balcony overlooked the countryside.  There were those same fields with crops and flowers as far as the eye could see.  And there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  It truly was a perfect day out.</p>
<p>In one of the rocking chairs sat an old man… no it was Steve Rogers.  He turned to her.  “Hello, Sharon.”</p>
<p>She felt her body seize up.  Sam and Bucky had been telling the truth, Steve was different.  It was almost as if he was a completely different person.  Where once was a strong firm jaw, was a sagging one.  His pristine skin was covered in wrinkles and his golden hair had turned a slick grey.  The only thing this man and Steve Rogers had in common was the piercing eyes; that had once been turned blue by super soldier serum.</p>
<p>“Hey…”  She said.</p>
<p>Sharon couldn’t find any words to say.  She’d had a speech prepared to tell him off but now couldn’t remember it.  Steve beckoned her over to the other empty chair.</p>
<p>“Come sit.”</p>
<p>Reluctantly, she stalked over to the empty chair and sat down.  This had been Uncle Daniel’s chair.  Steve sat in the one that had been Peggy’s.  Her eyes turned to look at the meadow far beyond.  She didn’t really want to look at him.</p>
<p>“I didn’t think you’d come.”  He said.</p>
<p>She scoffed and shook her head.  It took all of her willpower not to punch him in the face right now, but she wasn’t going to.  Her eyes stayed fixated on the meadow.</p>
<p>“Me either.  But Sam and Bucky drove me.”  From the corner of her eye she could see Steve rumble at the mention of his friends.  She couldn’t understand why he would react that way.  If he’d really cared about them he wouldn’t have left.</p>
<p>“That’s good.  I would hate for you to have to come all this way by yourself.”</p>
<p>A strong breeze washed across the balcony.  Her hair flapped in her face.  She didn’t reach up to move it away.  Her rage began to bubble up again at his comment.  Why would he care if she came alone?  She tried to quickly bury those feelings but couldn’t…  Her eyes <em>still </em>stayed fixed on the meadow.  She didn’t want to look at him, and the swaying of the flowers kept her grounded.</p>
<p>“Yeah.  They’re good partners.  We watch out after each other.  I like Bucky too… I can tell he’s very kind deep down.  In hindsight, I feel bad for kicking him in the face.”  She let out a small chuckle but quickly let it die.  She needed to remember who she was with.</p>
<p>Sharon truly liked Bucky’s company though.  They both understood what it was like to be under legacies.  And what it was like to be left behind…  He also had figured out the best place for them to get burgers.  So all in all, perfect teammate.</p>
<p>She heard Steve laugh too.  “That makes me happy that you’re all working together.”</p>
<p>Steve reached for her hand.  To her own surprise, she took it.  Sharon and Steve sat there for a moment, hand in hand.  His hands were rough but not covered in callouses like they used to be.  Now, they were just <em>brittle</em>.  She had never thought that was possible with him.</p>
<p>She had often thought about what it’d be like for them had all this not happened.  Could the two of them formed any sort of life together?  Probably not.  Sharon would have found some other job to throw herself into and focus on work.  She wasn't the type of person to choose love over duty.  But it had been fun to think about at the time, getting married to someone.  She thought her and Steve had shared life experiences but that hadn’t been the case.</p>
<p>The two of them watched the breeze blow over the meadows.  This really was the best seat in the house.  She’d always loved being out here with Aunt Peggy and Uncle Daniel at the end of a long day.  She didn’t know how long they sat there until Steve spoke again.</p>
<p>“Are Steve and Bucky going to come insi…”</p>
<p>Something inside Sharon snapped.  Once again, even though he knew the reason she was here, the conversation was not about what <em>she</em> needed.  It never was with Steve.  She snatched her hand away and bolted up from the chair.  Her eyes turned from the meadow to him.  He had her full attention now.</p>
<p>“No, Steve!  They’re not coming inside.  To be fair, they don’t seem too eager to see you.  None of us are!  You left us, tossed us aside like garbage!”  She screamed.</p>
<p>The joy faded from his eyes and even through the wrinkles she could see the shame on his face.  His gaze moved to the ground.  “I’m sorry that you feel that way…  But that’s not true.  I care for you all very deeply.”</p>
<p>“Yes it is!  You went to another goddamn timeline.  And now you’re…”  She gestured to his form.  She still couldn’t believe this had happened.  And she’d kissed that man before.  She was disgusted at the thought of that day.</p>
<p>She ran a hand through her hair.  “It doesn’t matter what you believe… you left Sam, Bucky, and I.  Yeah you’re not dead yet but you probably will be soon.  We- Bucky is going to have to live a long life without you!  He never shows it but he is <em>crushed</em> over what you did.”</p>
<p>Steve kept quiet.  His saggy jaw clenched.  She hoped that he felt shame at what he did.  He deserved to feel bad.  Steve’s selfishness had affected everyone around him.  His eyes moved back to her.</p>
<p>“You didn’t come here for Bucky though.”</p>
<p>A growl escaped her throat.  Damn him.  Steve always had this way of finding some logic in situations, to stop people from thinking irrationally.  If only he could apply that logic to himself.  But no one was ever allowed to question Steve, especially not her apparently.  Or even Peggy.</p>
<p>“You’re right.  I came for me.  I’m just so…”</p>
<p>A thousand words flashed through Sharon’s mind.  She’d felt so many emotions over the past five months.  None of which described how she truly felt.</p>
<p>Sharon sighed.  “I’m just so <em>disappointed</em>.  The Steve Rogers I knew would have never done anything like that.”</p>
<p>This was the man that had told 177 countries to go to hell.  Sharon had once been so inspired by Steve and his message.  She thought she’d been making the right decision in Berlin.  Her job with the CIA had been toast because she had made a choice to help Steve.  She stared him down searching his eyes for answers but found none.</p>
<p>“Why did you do that?  Did you think you deserved that ending?  Sure you saved the world a few times but you also destroyed a bunch of people’s lives with Sokovia, the accords.  I gave up my job for you, Sam went to jail for you, so did a lot of other people.  We gave up our <em>lives</em> for you!  We did it because we cared about you and believed you would always make the right choice.  And this is how we’ve been repaid.  I mean, what was stopping Pepper Potts from going back in time to live with Stark?”</p>
<p>Something in Steve's eyes changed.  That had struck a nerve with him.  Good.  Maybe Sharon was acting like a bitch, but she didn’t much care.  She’d been pushed to her limit and her anger needed to be let out.</p>
<p>Steve looked up at her like a wounded dog.  “I just wanted the life that was taken from me.  I wanted to be happy…”</p>
<p>“And you couldn’t have been happy with Sam or Bucky!  Or me…”  Sharon paced across the balcony.  She’d never felt anger like this before.  It was so unlike her, but she found herself giving into it.  “I know the reason everyone tiptoes around me.  I get it.  Steve Rogers left me to go marry my goddamn aunt!”</p>
<p>“You don’t understand…”  Steve said.</p>
<p>Sharon put a finger in his face.  “No!  The adult is talking.  Senior citizens keep their mouths shut right now!”</p>
<p>That was cruel but it didn’t matter.  This was about getting closure for her.  If Steve’s feelings got hurt in the process it was just a bonus.  Steve slumped back into his chair and sealed his lips.</p>
<p>“I know you’ve always been slighted at the whole undercover thing.  But I was just doing my job.  I never lied to you outside my name.  Every conversation we had was real.  It was unfair for you to hold that against me.”</p>
<p>She’d pretended to be his neighbor for two years.  It had been difficult lying to him sometimes but she had kept him safe.  Well, not exactly.  She had more likely been keeping tabs on him and tracking his every move.  It wasn’t her fault though that SHIELD was actually HYDRA.  She and everyone else had been fooled by a lie.</p>
<p>“I didn’t expect us to get married Steve… but I thought we were at least friends.  And I thought that you respected me too.  But you going back in time shows that you never respected me or Peggy.”</p>
<p>“I loved Peggy.  I knew I wanted to marry her the moment I met her.”  He whispered.</p>
<p>What he said didn’t sit right with her.  Everyone thought that she was angry because she was jealous of her aunt.  Because Sharon hadn’t married Steve.  But that wasn’t the problem.  Sharon was jealous because this man had gotten to live a life with Peggy, when in the real world her aunt had been taken from her.  She missed Peggy dearly, and would do anything to get another moment with her.</p>
<p>Sharon clenched her jaw.  “Peggy moved on from you!  She had a family-my family!  You say that you loved her but you didn’t respect her.  You invalidated all of her choices and the life she built for herself.  And you’ve disrespected the name Carter.”</p>
<p>Her mind wandered to every bad thought she’d had over the last five months.  Every argument she’d had with herself, she was now going to let it out.  All on this pathetic old man sitting in front of her.  She continued to pace across the balcony.  Not even the flowers swaying in the breeze could calm her down now.</p>
<p>“I just still can’t believe it…  Bruce told me exactly what you did and how it worked.  You went back to Peggy when she was broken and still figuring it out.  Did you tell her about the time travel?  Or did you just tell her you escaped the ice?”</p>
<p>Steve looked up at her.  His eyes threatened to fill with tears.  “I didn’t tell her about the time travel…  It would complicate things.”</p>
<p>Sharon scoffed.  God, this day kept getting better and better.  “So, on top of everything you manipulated her.  You didn’t tell Peggy about the time travel, because you know that she would have punched you in the face and sent you back to the future!”</p>
<p>“I know…”  He said.</p>
<p>“No, Steve.  You don’t know.  You have no <em>fucking</em> clue what you’ve done and how we all feel.  You think you knew Peggy so well?  You didn’t.  You spent two years with her back in the 40s!  I knew Peggy Carter for thirty years!  She helped raise me.  And her husband’s name was Daniel Sousa- not Steve Rogers.”</p>
<p>She took another look at him in that chair.  She had always imagined visiting Peggy and Daniel one day in their old age.  But they both had been taken from her too soon.  Now, even their memory was being disrespected right in front of her eyes.</p>
<p>“He was a great man!  And just because your pathetic self, saved his life back in the war doesn’t mean shit.  You have disrespected him, Peggy, and me.  Sometimes I think it’d be better if Thanos had killed you instead of Stark!”</p>
<p>There it was.  Those were the cruel words that had come to her five months ago.  It was probably the cruelest thing she had ever said to anyone.  Even more so than the cruel words she told Peggy when she had almost failed in SHIELD training.  That time she wished she could have taken it back.  But now, she didn’t care.  It was too late to take it back anyways.</p>
<p>Steve sat there in tears.  “I’m sorry that you feel that way, Sharon.”</p>
<p>“Yeah me too…”  She sighed.  It was done.  Any ties between Sharon and Steve were cut forever.  She shouldn’t continue to lay on the pain, but she was going to.  “And just so you know, Peggy loved me and her family more than she ever loved you…”</p>
<p>He slumped forward at her words but said nothing.  He really was so different.  There was no witty ‘neighbor’ comeback or patronizing bullshit.  He had just been reduced to a coward by his actions.  He was no longer Captain America, Sam Wilson was.</p>
<p>Sharon took a deep breath.  There was no taking anything back.  “I want you out of this house at the end of the month.  I don’t care where you go.  This is a <em>Carter</em> house- my house.  I grew up here.  You have no claim to it in this branch of reality!”</p>
<p>Sharon took one last at the man sitting in front of her.  He had once been one of her closest confidants and allies.  But now he was just a product out of time, with nothing left to offer the world.  This was the last time she would ever lay eyes on Steve Rogers.  She didn’t wait around to see if he would say anything back.  Her feelings were out there.  No turning back.</p>
<p>As she strode away from the balcony, she felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.  Nothing was standing in her way now.  She had finally gotten her closure from Steve Rogers.  She didn’t look back until she got back into the car.</p>
<p>Sam and Bucky stared her down looking for answers.  “You alright?”  Sam asked.</p>
<p>A big smile crossed her face.  “Better than I’ve been in a long time.”</p>
<p>Some people didn’t move on, but Sharon Carter certainly did.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>He y'all!  Hope you enjoyed.  This was my first time writing anything marvel in a while.  I did my best with their characterizations.  We never got to see angry Sharon or much of old Steve.</p>
<p>I, like many people were very upset with the final scene of Endgame.  It was a great disservice to Steve and Peggy's character arcs to have Steve go back in time (and he fucked up an entire timeline).  This was also sort of a breaking the 4th wall fic.  Sharon addresses some comments that fans have made about her character.  (And I tried to have her tell Steve things we wanted to tell him)  Also I know H*yley At*ell doesn't like Sharon or EVC but I still wanted to write Peggy and Sharon having had a good relationship before all this.</p>
<p>I sort of wrote her as a bitch but tbh she deserved to be a bitch to Steve and to marvel in general.  She's such a great character that was done so dirty.  I liked Steve a lot before endgame, but that movie just ruined his character.<br/>There wasn't really an intended ship in this  :)  I did though want to portray the friendship Sam/Sharon/Bucky all have.  I'm excited to see the three of them in their new show!  Anyways thanks for reading this y'all.  I might do another one shot of SS&amp;B if anyone wants.</p>
<p>If anyone wants to follow my tumblr is: punisherpage and my twitter is: calkestiz<br/>:)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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